Xenotropics (and the other conversation topics of professionals)
by dropout-ninja
Summary: This wasn't where June had pictured herself back during the nursing school days. But she's not complaining about it anymore.


Transformers Prime and its characters do not belong to me. All rights go to their respective owners.

Warnings: None, other than mentioned spoilers from season 3. Not canon complaint with RID 2015, but does contain references to it along with references to IDW, G1, and Animated.

* * *

Whoever told her that medical school would be easy should be shot. It was horribly hard work. It included classes that were more annoying than useful. It included teachers that only stayed on because of their friendship with the school president. It was murder on free time.

Still, June found the time to socialize. She had her friends in nursing school that had replaced her old social circle. They came to her apartment, took shots, watched stupid shows like the Bachelor, etc. They met to study and talked about how their labs had gone that week or (for the EMT's) what old lady had tried to bite them while transporting. Most of her nursing friends she never would have met or befriended if they weren't in school together. Birds of a feather flock together after all. Maybe that's why she found herself drawn to James.

He had been a field medic, having served five years overseas. Now he was a paramedic that June had met when he came to give presentations at the University on his old job. She ran into him again in a store some time after his presentation and they had talked _and then _found each other again and talked again. They talked about nursing since that was their common ground and then the conversations moved to his experiences as a field medic until eventually they were on to unrelated topics altogether.

Four months into what both had decided was a relationship, June told her friends. She invited the usual gang to her apartment, brought out the shot glasses, waited for Abdul, Carrie, Mia and Mackie to arrive. Then, after they were all buzzed, she spilled the juicy news.

"What secret?" Abdul pushed after she had teased them for a while, "Who is it? Is it a kid? Is it a job?"

"Wellllll," she drew the word out, teasing her friends, drunk on every words (and alcohol they had in their system), "I'm going out with Darby."

"Shut. Up." Mia grinned, hitting the side of June's arm. "Why didn't you tell us until now?"

That was the question, the one the nursing student didn't know the answer of. Maybe it was a visionary sense of unease, as if those friends would know in advance how the fling would turn out. As a practical woman, June didn't suspect her hesitation was due to those future telling means.

She was worried about their response, that much she did expect in advance. James was six years her senior. James had taught in school, however briefly, which made their first meetings seem unprofessional. James had been in the war in the east and whatever he saw there, she hadn't. There was a barrier because of his prior job and untold experiences. Nursing student, field medic.

June went ahead with it regardless of any unease.

They went to a courthouse to get married after a few months of living together. She was pregnant not all that long after. School continued to absorb her life and all stress escalated as she approached graduation. Then graduation came and went and she had the next few months to focus on her pregnancy and aloof husband. James spent a lot of time away, just as she had spent a lot of time in study the first months of the marriage. Whatever he was doing, she wasn't entirely sure. He was easily distracted. He wandered as if he wasn't quite sure where he was. He had said many times he wanted back in duty even as she wondered why he would ever want back into the job that had horrified him so much.

She used to whine about getting a neck ache looking up at the podium in different classes. When she started going out with James, she told her friends how his extra height was ruining her neck. Back in those days 6'3 seemed tall to her. Sometimes she missed those days. She missed the friends she had made in nursing school that she had drifted away from. She missed James Darby occasionally, even years later.

She wasn't sure what happened to him. If he had gone back into the military. If he had just up and ran. Maybe he had been killed by a gang. She never discovered why he left.

June had left school with everything she needed to become a nurse and nothing she wanted to stay east for. So she left, traveled west like the pioneer of before. If she could have had her way she would've made it all the way to Santa Barbara or maybe Monterrey, had a Cape Cod style home in some nice coastal metropolis. She would have gotten up at the crack of dawn and enjoyed a cup of coffee while looking over a view of the infinite sea. Instead, she found herself unpacking cardboard boxes in a condo with a view of more affordable apartments across the street and enrolling her child in a Nevada preschool to keep him occupied while she worked. Still, Jasper wasn't all that bad. It was peaceful, for one. There was routine. Wake up, go to work, get home when the shift is done. Eat with Jack. Go to bed. Repeat. It didn't carry the worries the coastal metropolis's would have. Didn't have the dangers that she could obsess over Jack being in that the other town's she lived in did.

It wasn't supposed to at least. Just like she was supposed to be able to whine about someone a foot taller than her giving her a neck ache. When her height barely compared to that of Jack's best friend, who in turn was almost half the size of her boss…

Every parent has to spend some time worrying about who their child is spending time with and June was no exception to that rule. And when she finally met the "science fiction club" that her teenage boy was hanging out with so much, it stopped chances of a normal, boring, typically Jasper NV life by default. Sure, they weren't bad people. Jack wasn't taking drugs with them. He wasn't partying late, or drinking underage, or knocking up girls, or breaking laws (well, generally. She hadn't been pleased when she found out about his short career in illegal racing). For the most part they were good influences.

The "club" leader was responsible, mature, intelligent. She would be hard pressed to find a better role model for Jack.

His "partner"/best friend was hot headed but caring, always trying to put Jack's safety first and spending most nights at their house, enough that June herself was starting to become fond of her. Said friend having saved the nurse's life helped as well.

The youngest member seemed to have a fun personality and a noticeable sense of maturity, although a language barrier kept her from having conversations with him.

The fourth was far kinder than his imposing appearance let on and tried (however futility) to keep Jack's transfer student friend Miko both out of trouble and in school to get the education necessary for a future.

The oldest was far rougher than the others, but intelligent, skilled, and just as much a part of the family as the rest. He was a medic and June had gotten to see him in action enough times to appreciate how well he protected the others.

So yes, they all had good, respectable qualities for her son to be around.

Problem being that they were all robots.

And aliens.

Alien robots.

June had long ago accepted this fact. They were her son's friends and, other than one disastrous attempt in the beginning, she wouldn't try to take him away from them. Even if that friendship had sent him into dangerous situations, a different dimension, and another planet. Other parents could worry about if their children's friends were teaching bad habits. At least they didn't have to worry about those people sending their child out of the solar system. But they were his family and she began to roll with it as best she could. She would visit, make sure the kids were doing their school and staying out of trouble, and then talk with the extraplanetary visitors.

Which was how she ended up spending much of her time with the last member of her list above. His one and only name was Ratchet. At first he intimidated her. Well, all of the giants intimidated her at first. But the doctor's bitter attitude only made him more unapproachable. Still, he recognized her medical abilities. That much was made clear after that incident with dark energon and poor Rafael. He called her "Nurse" when he deemed to talk instead of nod her way and she called him "Doctor" in return.

One of the times she had drove her bland white car over to their base on a weekend there was no rushing excitement. June merely brought out snacks and slapped together some sandwiches for her son, Miko, Raf, a visiting Agent Fowler and then found herself at a loss of what to do. Optimus seemed like someone both difficult and easy to have a conversation with, but he was busy at a screen 'deciphering' something. So instead June wandered over to Ratchet and watched him worked. At first he seemed to ignore her presence on the catwalk, but he finally turned to her with those bright inhuman eyes.

"Can I help you, Nurse Darby?" he asked politely but in a tone that made it seem as if he want nothing more than to get back to his own work. Beyond him were pictures of his latest patient, Raf's mute friend, and different files that were not in a language she could understand. June had once thought her college understanding of Spanish was impressive and all she would need to know for the patients she would get. Now she was struck with the thought of learning an alien language and, although she squashed it down with the excuse that she did not have the time, it amused her.

Instead, June asked what she had originally come over to ask about. The human nurse wanted to know what the pictures he was looking at showed. She wanted to get the easy version of the makeup of a cybertronian. So far, she had found that energon was somewhat equivalent to blood. Dark energon seemed to be blood polluted with a virus or drug. At least, that's as far as her equivalent went as no drug or virus reanimated human dead. The purple substance also seemed to be some sort of xenotropic, changing properties and effects as it changed species, judging by what she had seen happen to Raf. She heard something called a "t-cog" being referred to as an "organ". She saw their forms resembling human forms and called parts accordingly; eyes, hands, arms, legs, etc.

Ratchet had just raised one of those massive metal eyebrows at her request and then began. He seemed to respect that she, to, was a medical professional despite the different area of expertise. Unfortunately, he explained in terms that she did not always understand and started by discussing the case study up on screen. Which meant she was told about the t-cog surgery given to Bumblebee while quickly realizing she needed to start at the gen-ed of cybertronians to get this case. She would need to learn their anatomy. She would need to learn the medical words and terms they used, the language the diagrams were displayed in, the vitals to their recovery, to actually understand how this information displayed Bumblebee's problem and how to repair it. As a full-time nurse, she did not have the time to learn all that and June knew it. The rational part of her mind was ready to leave the venture at that. But being stuck around aliens, almost killed by a crazy spider robot, almost killed by a tornado in the middle of Nevada...yes, June Darby wasn't being driven by the rational part of her mind. That part hadn't gotten past the reveal of how Jack's motorcycle actually looked.

Instead, she was curious. Would a medical doctor for a cybertronian be similar to a medical doctor for humans? Or more similar to a mechanic? She may not have the free time to devote to the hours of another medical school. But why not learn what she could about her alien equivalent? After three hours had passed and, in a change of pace, Jack came to remind his mother that they tried to head home by eight, June spent time wrapping up the current topic and thanked Ratchet for his patience before she moved to leave.

"Nurse Darby," the alien said at her retreating back. June stopped and waiting, looking over into those glowing turquoise eyes. "With the children around us in the frequency they are, and with the presence of Miko bringing inherent risks to any activity, it would be advantageous to learn more of your human biology and repairs."

The nurse smiled.

"I can talk about anatomy with you," she replied, "and our first aid. When your hands are as big as our bodies I'm not sure how well you could administer much of that first aid, but I would agree that such knowledge would be beneficial."

The next weekend, the nurse found herself returning to the base for lunch with her ever independent son and then moved across the catwalk to Ratchet's "area". The space was small, overcrowded, and banned to wreckers. Certainly nothing like the roomy organized floors of the Jasper Hospital. This week, June led the discussion instead. Ratchet was far past the basics, courtesy of the internet, and they were able to delve into the more detailed aspects of human medical practices. June found that was a refreshing change of pace. She had often tried to help Jack with his biology and anatomy classes. The boy was smart, that she knew with more confidence than just typical parental bias. Even so, he had never progressed in the subjects past whatever high school level his classes required him to be at. The nurses at the hospital talked in their own manner, enjoyed their own culture and how easy it was to converse with others who also knew what words like bradykinesia or syphilis. Talking with Ratchet fit in neither of these categories. The mech was obviously smarter than most of her nurse friends, even if he was lacking in the areas of information they were proficient in.

From that point on they fell into easy routine. He went through the cybertronian basics with her. She discovered after a few weeks of this that she was picking the stuff up. When Ratchet turned his glowing optics her way, her brain identified them as "optics" instead of the human term "eyes". She brought him her old textbooks and worked through different procedures. As if in response, he began to show different damage reports and diagrams, and have her work through trying to direct repairs. June wasn't sure if they were simulated practices like the ones she brought in from her books or if they were old cases he had seen. Over time, it became habit to gravitate over to him when she would visit, slam her coffee cup down and begin the day's rant. June found that the cybertronian doctor would give her feedback or have his suggestions corrected by the human professional on whatever went wrong with patient A, or nod understandingly when complaining about how difficult patient B made it to keep an IV line in without them trying to run out of the hospital in nothing but their gown.

She brought up their continued discussions one night while Jack was running around with some new teammate that struck her as a teenager. He said it was "only practical" in a tone that attempted to shrug off weight of their budding friendship. June took no offense to it. She caught the slight smiles and unhidden enthusiasm when she would remember what he had showed her and thought up a sound strategy for different cybertronian cases he would put on screen. She caught the pride he felt when he picked up quickly on human anatomy and medical practices. June had a hunch that his budding confidence in the human field helped him relax around the presence of the humans running around the base and, to both their displeasure and despite their combined attempts to keep an eye on the groundbridge, the battlefield.

After the destruction of Jasper and the ensuing relocation, the nurse found herself spending more time with the medic than before. Not having a home and job at the hospital to return to played a large role in that fact. She had been stressed without communication from Jack. Fowler had been stressed from the sudden turn of events and less than pleasant phone calls with the destroyer of Jasper himself. Both adults saw each other often, June rushing back and forth to administer medical aid to any wounded soldiers or civilians on the military base. She came to tell the agent when they needed more supplies, what they needed, and on one unfortunate occasion, to yell at him as the stress of the attack on Jasper and loss of her son made her business facade crack. But neither held the other any worse for how they acted during those stressful days and both were mutually impressed with just how well they kept it together. June was a nurse and she did her job. That was it. She dissociated herself from the fact that she was now doing it in warehouses after the hospital became naught but a stain of scorched earth on the ground. Did that need to affect her job? No? Good. Then focus on that job at hand. She wouldn't allow herself to think about where Jack was, where little Rafael and his family were, if Miko was alright or finally had gotten herself killed, if Arcee was safe, if young Bumblebee had been damaged again, if Optimus was truly gone, dead, offline, whatever robotic aliens called it. She didn't think about if Jack was still alive, if Ratchet and Bulkhead and even that other Jack, the stupid reckless one that was by no means a good influence, were going to return again. Instead her mind focused on each IV insertion, each blood pressure measurement, each stitch given to an open wound.

When Ratchet and the others returned, it at least gave her something familiar to latch onto. With Darkmount II casting its shadow over Jasper's remains, June no longer complained about the active role Jack took in the interplanetary war. She didn't even contribute as much in Ratchet's anti-Wheeljack rants after said lone wolf helped rescue her and Fowler, or Bill as she called him recently, from the red decepticon groundform. And she felt relieved to find out the autobot medic would be remaining on Earth while the other now-familiar faces left for their home.

June went from being a medic for soldiers back to being a single mom looking for a house and job overnight. It was a difficult adjustment. As was watching Jack and his gradual response to losing the company of his best friend. She wanted to be there for him. Want to be the mother that he could find strength in. But the life her son had lived for the last two years was unlike what any parental self-help book talked about. The life June herself had been a part of for a year and a half. There was no precedent she could look to in order to find the best way to adjust after giant, cybernetic aliens from another planet both destroy your home and then leave your planet.

This was a clean slate. This was James leaving. A chance to start over. To move. To find new friends, a new home.

It was a chance to begin again.

June couldn't hold back the relief she felt when Bill came to her and offered her son a job. Couldn't help the relief as the agent found a way to keep the young man, the Japanese citizen and newly fourteen year old Raf together. She couldn't hold back the comfort she felt in seeing Ratchet's old form when she entered the warehouse on the military base he was staying in. There was comfort in the familiar and June realized she didn't want a clean slate. Even if that meant being stuck with the company of cranky old medics. She watched him work on the space bridge needed to open quick transportation between Earth and Cybertron, even if such engineering had no hope of being understood by her. The alien medicine she was getting the hang of. His work with synthetic energon that he had brought back from the Nemesis was also somewhat comprehendable. At least comprehensible enough for her to sit and nod at whatever he said about the green liquid and pick up the meaning of five percent of the symbols flashing by in the equations.

Then there was the day when Ratchet left Earth to rush to his home. He was needed to take care of an injury. June could understand the reasoning behind his return to the team. He was the only one with the medical skill to take care of a victim of a predacon attack.

He didn't return as soon as she had estimated. Then Bill called and she and Jack gathered in the sitting room of their new house until a groundbridge arrived to transport them. She saw Rafael adjust his glasses over teary eyes from where he sat at the human groundbridge controls, an unusually somber look on his young face. The reason became apparent in the message delivered by Bumblebee across the communications screen (the bot's had scrapped one up from the Nemesis before flying off Earth so that they could communicate face to face with their human family). Bumblebee's message revealed Ratchet would be a while longer to return, as they were going through a tumultuous time and Ultra Magnus needed his medical support. Bumblebee, de facto leader Bumblebee because- because- June didn't want to think about it. It wasn't right, not when the war had already ended, not when they had all let their guard down to loss! Jack, he had seen him as a role model. As a parental figure, she just knew it. And now she was back to being the single mom, never enough for her son.

Sometimes, she couldn't just live her life for her son however. Not when she had her own life to live. The next time Ratchet returned, June drove herself to the base for herself. She passed Bulkhead on the way in, offered a few lines of conversation with the friendly green construction worker and then moved inside to see the medic.

She found two instead. Both of whom she recognized.

"What is he doing here?" June yelled, pointing a finger at the same cocky red decepticon that had held her hostage on one of the most unfortunate, unpleasant days of her life. Despite being a self-proclaimed hater of 'squishies', all of Knock Out's experience watching human movie seemed to have gifted him with the ability to recognize the different members of the species. His recognition of her, and remembrance of 'the event', did him no favor with the nurse.

"What?" the red-opticed mech asked innocently, placing shining silver claws on his chest delicately enough to leave no scratch behind from the gesture, "I am a hardworking autobot and therefore have access to the 'Antique's' old disgusting excuse for a medical bay."

Ratchet was required to explain in much greater detail than Bumblebee had the events of the last three months, ending with a clipped, "he's Cybertron's CMO now, since I'm still stationed officially on Earth."

Then, to his annoyance, he was forced to recite it all again as Bill entered the building and dropped the coffee he was bringing June in shock at the sight in front of him.

June tolerated Knock Out's presence for the short time he was on Earth before all but Ratchet returned. She tolerated him again when he returned again in a month. _And_ the next time.

Apparently the younger medic did not have the proper training for the job of CMO. In actually, it was wheedled out of him and the records on the Nemesis that the ex-con had never gotten real medical training and had instead picked up his trade from experience. But Ratchet had higher standards than learning anatomy from carving parts off corpses and medical practices from watching what surgeons like "Hook" did to his patients. (June once had to listen to Ratchet rant on both this Hook and a mech called Pharma. As entertaining as it was to watch the old field medic spew aggressive and insulting opinions on the two, she had no desire to repeat the hours long experience.) So the younger medic was required to come to Earth monthly and work with Ratchet over dozens of ("archaic", as the ex-con called them once) laws, rules, ethical guidelines and finally the fine-tuned trade of a surgeon. This regular presence became less jarring to June, which was how she found herself joining both one afternoon.

Up until that point she still hadn't been comfortable enough around the new presence to act as casually with Ratchet as their friendship allowed them to. Still, with exposure even fears can become less frightening and, for a flashy, narcissistic bot, Knock Out seemed to try to avoid attention since the war's end which kept her from finding his presence overwhelming. So after a particularly annoying shift at her new hospital, June drove to the base and marched up the catwalk to the top of a refueling table. She had her own little chair set up on top of said table, which still didn't do much to even the height difference between a seated cybertronian and herself.

Ratchet seemed similarly frustrated like she felt, looking over a detailed diagram of two unknown cybertronians that resembled the bestial form of the self-proclaimed Predaking (a mech who had only visited Earth once, apparently for a gesture of good faith on the part of the autobots that neither Bill nor June had been pleased to find out about when the intimidating form came through the bridge) as far as she could see. There were a horrendous amount of injuries to try to identify who the diagram was showing. The medic noticed the nurse and left the project on his counter to join her.

"Busy day?" June asked him. The orange and white bot grunted.

"Shockwave and Predaking finally brought both of us into their apparently months old medical emergency as part of our alliance, but the wait-" Ratchet sighed in frustration, "This would have been so much easier to deal with if I had been brought in sooner instead of letting them wait until the last minute! Both of us are heading to Cybertron tonight to do what repairs we can in person instead of trying to send Shockwave instructions."

June caught the 'both of us' just as Knock Out moved in from the other side of the room where his workstation was kept separate from the cluttered area Ratchet claimed. He slumped into the other seat and stayed surprisingly silent.

"I had a patient recently," the human nurse piped up instead of paying him any attention and proceeded to complain to him about a stubborn caretaker that refused to let the patient get a cystoscopy. June threw her free hand up and then brought in down to hold the side of her head after finishing the story.

"For now, I'm expecting it was Predaking that held off on getting our help for so long," Ratchet said, "he doesn't want any autobot near his people, not after what happened to the lab on Earth. Still, Shockwave may be a brilliant scientist but he's no medic. These cases needed treatment and surgery long ago!"

After complaining back and forth on the issue for a while, they fell into their habitual banter. June explained a case she had recently and Ratchet offered his take on it. Ratchet explained a recent patient of his and June tried her hand out. She ended up pointing over at the diagram on screen and asking questions, adding input, making suggestions.

Eventually Knock Out began to join in, at least on the cybertronian side of things. He asked some questions about her own cases, but obviously knew very little about correct human nursing. On the other hand, the younger medic seemed very adapt in cases of his own race. June found to her surprise that his presence didn't keep her on edge the entirety of the time. In fact, she spent the conversation sipping the remains of her chai tea and talking comfortably with both medics until they settled on the topic of energon and its xenotropic properties when in contact with humans. If anything, the third professional just added to the discussion.

The next month saw her have a similar visit. She climbed the catwalk onto the giant sized table and smoothed down her turquoise scrubs as if she had been spending her evening breaks with giant robots all her life.

Bill arrived after she had been talking for a few hours and the nurse remembered she had invited the agent over for dinner that night, a dinner she was obviously not preparing at the moment. After a laugh and explanation for her hurry, she made to leave. When Knock Out leaned over and asked her if she had performed the Conjunx Ritus with his second hostage yet, June was forced to stay another fifteen minutes to hear Ratchet's explanation on the term. While she had Ratchet to thank for her knowledge of how to repair an energon line, replace a t-cog, etc, she had Knock Out to thank for her newfound and unasked for knowledge of cybertronian rituals and the "interfacing" he found so repulsive on humans. It appeared her thoughts on the matter matched Ratchet's, seeing the glares he shot his ally before sending him out of the room to do some menial task.

And so a new habit was made. Every month June spent at least one weekend over at the base with the two medics. Some of the soldiers remembered her from the days she had been working as a nurse there and greeted her cordially. Bill and Jack worked together, at least until the monthly visit from their extra planetary friends dragged her son away to Arcee.

When June found out that Miko had killed already, she marched up to Wheeljack the next time she saw him and jabbed him in the sensors and wires above his ankle. Human that she was, it didn't do much. Human that happened to listen to two medics stories and lectures on cybertronian biology, she _did_ just happen to hit a sensitive spot that got the wrecker's attention. Never let it be said June didn't try to protect the physical and mental health of the teenagers, even one like Miko who swore she didn't want any such help. Still, the honorary human wrecker gave June an appraising look at her direct approach and said something about how "helicopter mom" had some bearings. The comment earned the girl chore duty and an ineffectual lecture from the disapproving nurse.

Then there was a day when June drove in and found a small (by their standards) white cybertronian with Ratchet. He turned his bright blue optics her way and even though the lower half of his face was covered in a mask he seemed to look happy. And fascinated.

"This is First Aid," Ratchet introduced, "First Aid, this is Nurse Darby."

The new medic stayed on base for a few weeks, apparently there to learn about humans and how Team Prime had spent their time on Earth. June liked him. He insisted she call him 'Aid and was completely fascinated with humans. Where Ratchet had attempted to remain aloof during the time she taught him about human medicine, 'Aid jumped into the subject wholeheartedly.

As it turned out, First Aid wasn't the only bot that was planning on coming to the Earth base, however temporary the visit was. Other medics that were arriving to Cybertron were being given the option, which was Ratchet's idea according to a conspiratorial Knock Out. There was one time when the young white cybertronian asked about if another medic he had worked with would be coming to the human planet.

"Red Alert was killed by general Strika while she was aiding a team on an outpost near Chaar," Ratchet answered him, tone losing it's gruffness, "That young upstart that managed to get himself on the council brought the news back when he and the other survivors landed on Cybertron."

First Aid looked down sadly at the news. If that ever-present face mask had been open, June would place money that he was frowning.

"Who, Rodimus?" Knock Out's cheerful voice interjected contrary to the somber mood, the defector sliding into the room and conversation, "Now there is a mech that appreciates the value of appearance. You could take a tip or to from that 'upstart' old m-"

June smiled at the sight of a tool flying and the smaller red medics squeal of terror as it narrowly avoided compulsively perfect finish.

"Come on Ratchet, we needed that," she couldn't help but tease in her best mimicry of the old mech's voice. Whenever this had become her normal, she wasn't entirely sure. But it certainly was now.

The next one brought in was a small blue medic called Nickel with a temper that challenged Ratchet's own. Knock Out was uncomfortable around the femme, something about her old occupation with some sort of justice department. Or division. Something of the like that the defector seemed to view as a bogey man even with the fact that none of the division remained. Apparently their meeting with a Unicron-upgraded, decepticon-cause-is-no-more Megatron had ended poorly for them. Whatever the story, Nickel didn't want to talk about it. But talk she did on any other matter. June found the swearing, aggressive attitude of the small medic amusing. Especially when she would watch her go up against Ratchet in verbal battle. The war may have ended, but it didn't keep the two medics from fighting over every little thing. Unlike 'Aid, Nickel wasn't interested in learning a thing about human medical practices, but June wasn't offended. She doubted all her coworkers would want to put in the extra work to learn what she had. Going through medical school once was bad enough after all.

The day June was invited to follow her sons footsteps onto the other planet surprised her. She hadn't been ready to hear the offer from the ambulance parked outside her home at five in the morning as she went outside to go to work. It took her all morning to figure out if the conversation had actually occurred. The days preceding the extra-planetary trip were busy. June used her vacation time at work, went through space suit procedure, rules on always being near someone who knew the tiny woman was nearby and could warn others not to step on her, maps of the rebuilt main city that included which buildings had a simulated Earth-atmosphere, etc.

The trip was one June wouldn't forget. She enjoyed seeing the others, visited the hospital where First Aid and Nickel worked with Ratchet, even going to Knock Out's second job was a fun experience. The vain cybertronian had apparently started a "salon" that offered paint jobs, polishing, even cosmetic changes that could change a bot's form almost entirely. It was a popular place with the vehicons and its owner admitted to the nurse that he enjoyed it more than trying to be a medic in a peacetime world.

June was interviewed by some bright green and white painted vehicon who had been trying to create an entertainment industry for the newly reborn planet. According to the drone, who had name itself Moonracer, Jack, Miko, Rafael, the other members of Team Prime, and the different medics that had visited Earth had already been interviewed and dropped her name enough times that the vehicon had wanted her on their show. Weeks later, Arcee brought her a copy of the footage and she shared a laugh over it with Bill.

On the four year anniversary of June's meeting with the aliens, the nurse had a long internal conversation over the matter of lifespans. The stress and excitement during that time had allowed the signs of her own age to catch up to her. She now understood how Bill had graying hair by fifty. The cybertronians, on the other hand, had no physical changes whatsoever. June may think of mechs like Smokescreen as young but they were still thousands of years older than her. Spending so much time with the ageless changed her perspective a bit. A ten year age gap between two humans seemed much smaller when she spent her lunches with doctors millennia older than herself. She didn't want to miss opportunities in her lifetime, whether it be visiting another planet, watching her son join the government, or marrying again. Not when she would grow old and die before sharing those special times with her timeless friends.

Although when June was looking at the stack of creamy white invitations, she realized her own dilemma.

Most people wouldn't chose to go through nursing school a second time. Most people wouldn't worry over their children spending time with aliens. And most people wouldn't have to find out how to get their giant cybernetic friends to a wedding that included other friends that weren't allowed to know of said alien guests existence.

* * *

Thank you for your time!


End file.
